Monstrous Mechs was put off in favor of another sourcebook that I think will be of greater interest to more DragonMech fans. It's "Almanac of the Endless Traders," tentatively scheduled for spring '06, and it's a broad gazetteer of sorts, focusing on the parts of Highpoint that weren't covered in 2nd Age of Walkers. I think you'll like it.

A copy of The Last City has just arrived from my local Australian gameshop. Well worth the wait and already devoured, I was hoping when I came back to the site that there would be something cool in the pipeline. After reading Last City, a campaign based on travelling with the endless traders seems like a great idea (and certainly a good way to get to see more of Highpoint).

I agree with you Mythfish. I've been playing BattleTech since about 1987 and I must admit that even though they only come out every few years, I scratch my head trying to remember a decent percentage of the mechs in the latter TROs. After a while, they all sort of seem to blend together - On the other hand, Monstorous Mechs do sound as though they each might be unique and interesting.

I had the pleasure of working on Monstrous Mechs - but I won't spill any beans unless Joseph gives me the go-ahead. It was an interesting project. I hope the material that was produced ends up in a book somewhere. Right now I've got to go write Mr. Goodman about working on that new DragonMech book!

Incidenlty, about Battletech, they came out with a "revised" 3055 which took the fairly well known mechs from 3055 and redid them. Unfortunately they no longer had the rights for the art to the Behemoth, which frustrates me, because they had to do new art for it and it really isn't the same mech anymore.

Battletech is a something I would die to work on. I've been playing Battetech longer than I've been playing D&D. My parents didn't see Battletech as being as evil or influencial as Dungeons and Dragons...

...satans game. Your children, in their weaker years are more suseptible to the occult and a game like Dungeons and Dragon fuels their imagination...

The website BattleCorps is a paid subscription battletech fiction site. At least one of the fans who has written there has gone on to write some of the new Mechwarrior Dark Age novels (though he had written some Star Trek novels, so it wasn't as though he was completely alien to the process). So you never know your luck ...

TRO 3055 is "Upgraded" rather than "Revised". The "Revised" TRO tend to be corrections. The Behemoth's picture in the original 3055 never matched the specs they gave it (pic had two big arm guns and a big torso cannon - the stats had 2 large pulse lasers and 2 torso mounted gauss rifles. My main peeve about the "Upgraded" TRO is the Solaris Mechs in the back. The rules for the weapons are printed in a Solaris Map Pack - which is a collection of maps from the original Solaris box set and the Reaches supp. I have the original, so don't need the map pack, but can't get the rules for these new mechs (which use some unusual equipment) without forking over for a whole lot of maps I already have.

The Behemoth's art was my favorite in the game. I realize it did not match the weapon systems but there were rules for putting weapons in two locations. The could have gone with a "double" guase rifle as the center weapon.... In any case putting guase riffles in the left and right torse was a rediculous idea. They blow up too easily. I always modified the mech, putting the explosive weapons into the arms and moving the PPCs to the torso. When I'm rich and famous I'll contact the original art and fix this whole mess!

Monstrous Mechs was put off in favor of another sourcebook that I think will be of greater interest to more DragonMech fans. It's "Almanac of the Endless Traders," tentatively scheduled for spring '06, and it's a broad gazetteer of sorts, focusing on the parts of Highpoint that weren't covered in 2nd Age of Walkers. I think you'll like it.

It's nearing spring...is there a more exact release date for the Almanac yet?

Sedm1549 wrote: "Also, a quick monster question. It seams that lunar dragons are the only ones without damage reduction (that I've seen anyway). Is this errata or the reason behinde their huge hit points?"

So any word on the Monstrous Mech Manual or other new releases? I have a new campaign going and looking forward to more books to devour.My group loves this setting!

The Almanac of the Endless Traders just came out recently, but beyond that only Joseph knows for sure.

Quote:

Sedm1549 wrote: "Also, a quick monster question. It seams that lunar dragons are the only ones without damage reduction (that I've seen anyway). Is this errata or the reason behinde their huge hit points?"

Any official word on this one?

None of the lunar creatures in The Shardsfall Quest or the Mech Manual have damage reduction. I'd say lunar dragons are fine without it.

I don't beleive there is a typo or any mistakes on the Lunar Dragon. I've brought this matter up before. Their Lunar ability covers their damage reduction, or rather, their lack of it - taking half damage from air, fire, water or no damage on a successful save and double damage from eath-based attacks. With no scales it does make more sense that they have no Damage Reduction. They are very different from other true dragons with a lot fewer special abilities.

Monstrous Mechs was on hold last I heard several months ago. Joseph seems to be bolstering some of his other lines right now. However I expect we will see more DragonMech at some point in the future.

My understanding is that Monstrous Mechs was to be a collection of unique mechs that roam Highpoint. Not necessarily "monstrous" in the sense of being monster-like, just unique. It was decribed as kind of a "Monster Manual of mechs".

The book was set aside in favor of Almanac of the Endless Traders, and what its current fate is I have no idea.

For my part, it didn't get much farther than a few scrawled notes and a couple brief paragraphs before the project was sidelined in favor of...I forget what came out instead. I did find the file that has my brief paragraphs, and here it is. I present, for your perusal, all of Monstrous Mechs that was completed (to my knowledge anyway):

Quote:

The Sea Throne A slathem who calls himself Lord Druun has found a powerful magical artifact at the bottom of the sea. The Sea Throne allows its owner to create around himself a huge humanoid vehicle composed entirely of water. The Sea Throne is an intelligent artifact with an agenda against land dwellers, and it has convinced Lord Druun that the land races are responsible for the lunar invasion which has so troubled his people. Lord Druun sits the Sea Throne at the center of his watery mech and wages his war against the land. Even the most hardened mech pilot feels some apprehension at the idea of being drowned in his own mech. The description will include not only the Sea Throne water mech, but also the Sea Throne artifact and some water-based spells that Lord Druun uses against land mechs.

The Walking Monastery Boromandithides is an old god, with little power left to fight against the lunar gods. His few remaining followers have largely been destroyed by lunar rains and lunar creatures. When he heard the monks of his last monastery fervently praying for salvation from the orc mechs approaching, he intervened in the only way he had power left to do. The stone monastery rose from the ground, took humanoid form, and crushed the orcs. The monastery mech now wanders the land guided directly by Boromandithides’ hand…or so the monks think. In reality, Boromandithides himself has inhabited the monastery in a last-ditch effort to avoid his destruction at the hands of the lunar gods, and to protect his last followers while doing so. Additionally, a mobile village has begun following Boromandithides around. It started as slaves freed from the orcs, but has grown as the god travels the land. The mech travels Highpoint under its own power. The monks of the monastery and the villagers often do not agree on why the god goes where he does, and the god does not have the power yet to communicate directly with his followers. The physical monastic form of Boromandithides is composed entirely of stone blocks that shift under the god’s will. It is very slow, and has no armaments other than rocky fists. It protects itself and its followers through the powers of an admittedly weak deity. Numerous adventures can be had following the monastery around and trying to divine its purpose at each stop. There are also political hooks using the tension between the monks and the villagers.

If the book were to go forward now, are these the things I'd submit? Probably not. Although if I recall Lord Druun did get mention or two in Almanac of the Endless Traders.

I truly wish this HAD gone through, because just those two ideas alone are AWESOME. I could do so much with both of those concepts. Its truly a shame more people didn't clue into DragonMech, because the setting it honestly one of the most unique and versatile I've ever seen. I won't convert it to fourth ed though, I'd go back to second ed first, and probably could make DM work there easier. Thanks so much for those ideas, may I make use of them please?

I truly wish this HAD gone through, because just those two ideas alone are AWESOME. I could do so much with both of those concepts. Its truly a shame more people didn't clue into DragonMech, because the setting it honestly one of the most unique and versatile I've ever seen. I won't convert it to fourth ed though, I'd go back to second ed first, and probably could make DM work there easier. Thanks so much for those ideas, may I make use of them please?

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